Mystic Ink, Publisher Of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, And Phantastic Fiction podcast

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Justin Manly, BCG’s lead on growth and innovation, explains how businesses can choose the right growth strategy given their aspirations and position in the market. Whether a company is gaining or losing share, in a booming or sluggish industry, profitable growth depends on knowing your starting point. Learn More: Justin Manly: https://on.bcg.com/4kGYyPH BCG’s Latest Thinking on Growth and Innovation Analytics: https://on.bcg.com/4kjTEIB BCG’s Latest Thinking on Corporate Finance and Strategy: https://on.bcg.com/3ZeAMlX Your Growth Strategy Depends on Your Starting Point: https://on.bcg.com/43YpzZm The Vitality Code: How Growth Leaders Master Strategy, Technology, People, and Culture: https://on.bcg.com/4dMKjH1 This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Mystic Ink Publishing is an independent publisher focusing on works of a spiritual, shamanic, new age, or transcendent nature as well as dramatic works of Phantastic Fiction © in the paranormal genres of magical realism, horror, supernatural thrillers, and science fiction.

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Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

updated 29 днів тому

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Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

1
Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 - August Norman & Andy Ross - The Author Agent Collaboration 2:18:54

29 днів тому2:18:54

2:18:54

This seminar covers aspects of the traditional publishing process, how it works, how long it takes, dealing with rejections, contracts, publicity, platform building, blurbs, signings, podcasts, nominations, and more. SBWC faculty member Norm Thoeming (aka August Norman) is author of two literary thrillers and mysteries, Come and Get Me and Sins of the Mother . Andy Ross opened his literary agency in 2008. He was the owner of the legendary Cody’s Books in Berkeley for 30 years before switching careers. His agency represents books in a wide range of nonfiction genres. He looks for writing with a strong voice, robust story arc, and books that tell a big story about culture and society by authors with the authority to write about their subject. In fiction, he likes character and voice-driven stories about real people in the real world.…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 - W. Bruce Cameron 1:07:28

9 weeks тому1:07:28

1:07:28

W. Bruce Cameron is author of #1 New York Times, USA Today International bestselling novel A Dog’s Purpose. The Amblin/Universal film of the same name is the most successful international live-action dog movie of all time. His latest novel, Love, Clancy: Diary of a Good Dog is a deeply moving story with a brand-new cast of characters, including one very good dog and one disdainful cat. Told in Cameron’s signature style, a tremendous cast of wonderful characters find themselves navigating the challenges of life.…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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DEATH: (A Love Story) - Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself 27:37

12 weeks тому27:37

27:37

PLEASE ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF Hi, I am your Death and I am here for you. No wait, don’t go! Aside from the fact that you can’t get away, I’m not here for you in that way, at least not now, although to be honest with you we do have a date and I am always with you whether you acknowledge me or not. Want to know when I am coming in that way? Sorry, I can’t tell you. It’s part of the Great Mystery. You know. That place where you came from and where you are going. If you want to know the truth I'm not your death, but you are mine. Now don't freak out on me. It's only a visit. I want to spend some quality time with you before the big event and seeing as you took the time to stop by and I have you as a captive audience I thought it would be nice to have a little visit and get acquainted. Sorry, if we got off on the wrong foot, but that happens more often than not, so let’s give it another try. Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name, but what’s puzzling you is the nature of my game. No, I’m not who you think from that song – well maybe I am. In truth I have many names and many faces. I’m formally introducing myself to you this way, but I’m really just messing with you, hoping that maybe you will lighten up and think of me a little differently. Who knows? You just might learn something. We are far more intimate than most people care to admit. Whoever came up with the expression love it to death was a lot closer to the truth than those other idiotic sayings you have about me. Not only am I always with you, but my love for you is unconditional, all consuming, and infinite from your limited perspective. With a love like that you’d think that my feelings would be hurt by the way you portray me, but one of the benefits of being omnipotent and omniscient is that I am beyond those infantile emotions, and if I were affected by them my love for you wouldn’t be unconditional, would it? Yes, I admit to being a know-it-all. That is the definition of omniscient, so forgive me if I go a little overboard at times. It’s not my ego, it’s just that I sometimes forget myself. I have access to everything there is to know about you, and everyone else for that matter. I have friends in more places than you can imagine and my eyes and ears are everywhere including all knowledge in each and every molecule and cell of your neurons, dendrites, mitochondria, organs, and anything else you can imagine. Yes, sometimes I get a little too technical and scientific at times, but every thought, emotion, and the collective knowledge of anything humanity has ever thought, imagined, or experienced is at my disposal. There are no secrets from me. I’m here to tell you stories and share some science, history, and myths, all of which are your creations that I want to enlighten you with to help you understand me more. You have seen me as Satan, Anubis, Mot, Thanatos, God, the Devil, loving, punitive, dark, light – the list goes on and on! It is my sincerest hope that our friendly reintroduction here will change the way you think of me, and maybe in some small way reflect the depth of the love I have for you. One of the most enduring ways you depict me is as the Grim Reaper, a skeleton wearing a shroud holding a scythe who comes to collect you. Yes, there is some truth to that and many of your stories are about people trying to trick, bribe, or avoid me and hold on to the psychopomp who escorts newly deceased souls into the afterlife. When you portray me this way I’m pretty scary looking. No wonder so many people are terrified of me! Sometimes you think of me as male and other times you think of me as female, but I am far beyond any definition as simplistic as that. Aside from the Grim Reaper, which you have to admit, is not very flattering, can you honestly tell me what is grim about a homecoming? After all, everyone is more than welcome in my domain which is actually your real home. Mi casa es su casa. I suggest you enjoy the short visit of your life because when I come for you, you will realize just how short it really is. You could even die reading this book. As I mentioned, I have many names and many faces. In the most basic sense, most people know me as Death, which comes from an old English word dēap , which comes from the old Germanic daupuz , which comes from an Indo-European root that means the process, act, or condition of dying, but I go infinitely further back than that! Over time, the idea and the signs of my coming have generated a number of euphemisms. When I come for someone, you may say that they have passed away, passed on, expired, or are gone. The dead person becomes a corpse, a body, remains, or a cadaver. I kind of like that last one. Abra Cadaver! Now you see them, now you don’t. Carrion and carcass are also used mostly when talking about animals, and when all of your flesh has rotted away you become skeletons. In the spirit of politeness, people now like to say deceased, and the dead person is referred to as the decedent while the ashes left after a cremation are sometimes called cremains, a clever combination of the words cremation and remains. Other than this very decidedly special blessing of a visit with you now, from a scientific point of view my mostly once in a lifetime visit can best be defined as the ending of all biological functions that keep a living organism going. I have many ways to do that depending on how you have lived, where you lived, what your parents did, and lots of other things that come into play that affect our fast approaching, intimate meeting. There are innumerable variations on how I come for you. If you are good, I might let you enjoy the gift of life for longer and let you die of old age, but this can sometimes be slow and painful. Other times I can be fast and terrifying, like when a predatory wild animal decides it wants to act as one of my agents and send you to me as a gift. You can see this instinct in house cats when they bring you an eviscerated bird, mouse, or lizard as a gift. You should be flattered by that because they are giving you the same respect they have for me. There are many other ways that I come that keep me busy, which is another reason why you should be grateful that I am spending this special time with you right now, although truth be told, I exist far outside the limitations of space and time as you know them. I’ve always found it fascinating that like the loyal cat that brings you corpses as gifts, you unwittingly and sometimes purposefully do the same with me like you are my loyal pets. I have to admit to having a special place in my heart for cults, serial killers, war mongers, and other misfits who aid me in my work. No disrespect intended here, but I am flattered by the dedication and service of these seemingly misguided souls. I understand that you don’t always get credit in the case of disease, malnutrition, starvation, and dehydration. Sometimes the weather and other natural forces help make this happen, but sometimes, especially in modern times, you assist them with the way you treat your environment, or from your greed when you hoard resources at the expense of others. I am grateful for your contributions both direct and indirect that help bring so many of my loved ones home to me. Without sounding insensitive to those left behind, I find the self service of suicide particularly charming and a sign of your undying love for me. It’s a paradox, isn’t it? Undying love for Death. It sounds kind of eternal, doesn’t it? I’m full of what looks like paradoxes and contradictions, but it’s all part of the Great Mystery that you’re not quite ready to understand yet. Aside from those who prefer the self service personal introduction to me there is intentional homicide where you help me directly like a midwife into my reality, and then there are the times you help me without realizing it with accidents and traumas from terminal injuries. Sometimes I’m a little embarrassed and overwhelmed by your generosity when it comes to wars, bombings, and mass murders. Even though I don’t need your help, among all the living beings in the world you serve me more than any of the others by killing yourselves and everything around you more than all of them combined. While we are spending this special moment together I want you to know that I understand why you are terrified of me. Given the circumstances, I forgive you for the way you think of and describe me in light of the fact that in most cases the bodies of the formerly living decompose soon after I take them, which I admit is not a pretty sight, not to mention the smell, but maybe it can bring you some small comfort in the fact that what you see as an unsightly stinking mess gives life to my loyal insect, vermin, and other carrion eating clean up crews who help you become food for the plants. Your remains might even contribute to the radiant beauty of a blossoming flower! I also realize that from your side of things my visit can be sad and unpleasant because of your love for those who leave you to come back to me, and because I am one of the best known faces of the Great Mystery, you know little of me, which is the reason I have come to visit with you now. Most of you fear the dark and what you don’t know, and my visits bring emotional pain, melancholy, and longing, but on the bright side I also engender sympathy and compassion. I feel compelled to tell you that many of you think there is an afterlife and believe that there is a reward, judgment, and punishment for past sins. Suffice it to say that you will discover the real truth of that when I come to take you home. Although your thoughts, fears, perceptions, and denials of me are unwarranted, when you see them from the bigger picture that I represent, I assure you there is no judgment on my part for how you think and feel about me. I also want to point out that like the sympathy and compassion I inspire when I check in from time to time, and sometimes when I come, I change my mind to keep things interesting, and end up changing lives for the better. Grim Reaper? Huh! If I do decide to let you stick around and enjoy the gifts and the life that I have loaned you for a longer time, it only means that I am coming for you in increments, sometimes just a few cells at a time, but as I mentioned my love for you is all consuming and our final meeting is inevitable, so rest assured, I am still coming, or maybe it sounds better to say waiting. Regardless of how you think about it, I am always here for you , and will come whenever I choose. If you live a long life and manage to survive all the calamities that three dimensional existence has to offer, old age will wear you down and bring you to me. The aging process comes from the deterioration of cellular activity and the destruction of regular cell functions, meaning yes, I am everywhere and in all things big and small. This gradual deterioration and mortality means that cells are naturally sentenced to stable and long term loss of life in spite of their continuing metabolic reactions and viability. To put things in perspective and give you a sense of how generous I am, how hard I work, and of how busy I am, roughly one-hundred-fifty-thousand people join me from around the world every day, and of those two thirds come to me through the gradual process of old age. Think about how much you contribute to the other third who come home to me through unnatural man made causes. Who’s the Grim Reaper now? I understand how confusing it is for you to comprehend what I really am, what I really do, and what I represent. After all it is a Great Mystery that you only get a fleeting glimpse of as infinity, and even that falls short. It’s one of the reasons I came to visit you now. It’s my sincere hope that you come to understand me more. Even though I am admittedly incomprehensible, I am also inevitable, so whether you like it or not, in spite of the fact that you do everything to avoid and try to outwit me, at some point you have to accept me, even if I take you kicking and screaming. I would much rather have you embrace me with the Love I have for you when I finally welcome you home because in the end you have no choice but to admit; you are mine . You have studied all of the ways I can take you and searched the signs of my visits in futile attempts to look for ways out, but you must realize now that I am a process, meaning I am perpetually ongoing instead of a one time event the way you are used to seeing and thinking of me as. With the advancement of your science and technology many of my entry points are now reversible, which I find amusing, but patience is a virtue, isn’t it? I have all the time in the world and I will always prevail in the end. Your inquiries and your divide and conquer approach to understand me have only confused things more by blurring the dividing line between living and joining me in my realm, and it depends on factors beyond the presence or absence of your vital signs. In your modern day and age clinical death is not necessary or adequate for a determination of legal death. If you have a working heart and lungs, but are considered brain dead, then you can be declared legally dead without clinical death. Who’s really calling the shots here, Clinical Doctor Death, Death, Attorney at Law, or Brain Stealing Death? Of course the answer is always Yours Truly no matter how anyone tries to define me. You now have many scientific definitions to try and understand me like brain death, which defines my arrival as the point in time when brain activity ceases, respiratory arrest, when breathing stops, and cardiac arrest, when your heart stops. These are followed by what sounds like partners in an otherworldly family law firm; pallor mortis, the paleness that comes fifteen to twenty minutes after I have come and gone, livor mortis, the settling of blood in the lower part of the body, algor mortis, the reduction in body temperature following my visit, and the well known rigor mortis, where the limbs become stiff, and of course at the end of it all there is always decomposition. All of these definitions highlight one of the challenges in trying to define me, which is distinguishing me from life, the gift that I bless you with. If you look at my arrival as a point in time, then I am the moment when your life ends, but determining when I have come is difficult as the cessation of your life functions don’t often happen at the same time across all of your organ systems. A popular conception which I have an affinity for is to define life as consciousness. When consciousness ceases a living organism can be said to have died, but even this notion is ambiguous in that the concept of consciousness has different definitions given by scientists, psychologists, and philosophers, not to mention all the religious traditions that believe my arrival doesn't signal the ending of consciousness. In many cultures I am thought of as more of a process than a single event that implies a transition from one spiritual state to another. Does consciousness survive when I come and take you? Well… Sorry, as much as I’d like to tell you, that is part of the Great Mystery, but if it is any consolation, I am always here for you. Waiting. Amidst all this confusion about when and how I might come and go, many have been confounded or in many cases have taken things into their own hands and wittingly or unwittingly worked for me by becoming my agents and collaborators. I have to admit that no matter which way it turns out, I am indifferent to the outcome because I know that I always prevail in the end. Throughout history many people have been buried alive either by accident, misdiagnosis, or intentionally as forms of torture, murder, or execution. Sometimes it happens with the consent of the victim as part of a stunt with the intention of escaping. Premature burials are invitations for me to visit through suffocation, dehydration, starvation, or hypothermia if it happens somewhere cold. Many recorded cases of accidental burial go back to the fourteenth century when after reopening his tomb, the philosopher John Duns Scotus was reportedly found outside his coffin with his hands torn and bloody after attempting to escape me. Alice Blunden of Basingstoke was said to have been buried alive twice back in sixteen-seventy-four. These are just recorded instances, but these accidents go much further back than that. Revivals of corpses have been triggered by dropped coffins, grave robbers, embalming, and attempted dissections. Many people think that reports of live burial are overestimated. The normal physical effects of decomposition are often misinterpreted as signs that the exhumed person had revived in their coffin. Reports are ongoing of people accidentally being sent to the morgue trapped in steel boxes after being declared dead. When a gentleman named Robert Robinson died in Manchester England in seventeen-ninety-one a movable glass pane was inserted into his coffin and the mausoleum had a door for purposes of inspection by a watchman to see if he breathed on the glass. He instructed relatives to visit his grave periodically to check that he had actually left with me. In eighteen-eighty-two safety coffins were devised to prevent premature burial, but none of them worked and in eighteen-ninety a family designed and built a burial vault with an internal hatch to allow the victim of a premature burial to escape. The London Association for the Prevention of Premature Burial was formed in eighteen-ninety-six. I found all these antics and the lengths that people went through to avoid meeting me a source of great entertainment. All of these accidents and misdiagnosed burials have contributed to the legions of vampire and zombie mythologies which I find even funnier. Undead? Seriously? Talk about…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 - Poetry with Perie Longo & Enid Osborn 34:59

13 weeks тому34:59

34:59

Moderator, Perie Longo, Santa Barbara Poet Laureate, 2007-2009, has published 4 books of poetry, the latest Baggage Claim (2014) and poems in numerous literary journals. This was her 40th year teaching poetry at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and she’s thrilled and awed to be still poeting and standing. Enid Osborn Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara 2017-2019, published When the Big Wind Comes, set in New Mexico. A Pushcart nominee, her work appears in regional California and Southwest journals. She has a series of themed chapbooks, and she co-edited A Bird Black as the Sun / California Poets on Crows & Ravens in 2011.…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 - Agents Panel 58:28

17 weeks тому58:28

58:28

SBWC faculty member Norm Thoeming (aka August Norman) is author of two literary thrillers and mysteries, Come and Get Me and Sins of the Mother. Annie Bomke is a literary agent with more than a decade of experience in the publishing industry. She represents a wide range of projects from hard-nosed business books to otherworldly historical novels. Annie has loved the publishing industry since her internship at Zoetrope: All-Story, a literary magazine founded by Francis Ford Coppola. She once managed a rare bookstore and had a brief stint as a technical writer. Authors have called her the pH test for good writing, and a bedrock for literary quality control. Elizabeth Kracht joined Kimberley Cameron & Associates in 2010 and is the author of The Author’s Checklist: An Agent’s Guide to Developing and Editing Your Manuscript. She represents both literary and commercial fiction, as well as nonfiction. She’s compelled by multicultural themes and strong settings. She represents literary, commercial, women’s, thrillers, mysteries, historical, and crossover YA. In nonfiction, she’s interested in high concept, health, science, environment, prescriptive, investigative, true crime, voice- or adventure-driven memoir, sexuality, spirituality, and animal/pet stories. Dana Newman is an LA-based independent literary agent representing authors of practical and narrative nonfiction and literary and upmarket fiction. She’s interested by authors with smart, unique perspectives who’re committed to actively marketing and promoting their books. A favorite genre is literary nonfiction: true stories, well told, that read like a compelling novel. She’s also an attorney, focusing on publishing law and contracts. Before founding her literary agency, she worked as in-house counsel in the entertainment industry. Jonah Straus is the founder of Straus Literary in San Francisco. He specializes in literary fiction, often with an international or multicultural outlook, as well as journalism, history, narrative nonfiction, and the culinary arts. Jonah got his start at Atrium Publishers Group, an independent book distributor in Northern California, and went on to hold positions in production, editorial, sales, and marketing at several publishers in the San Francisco Bay Area. He established Straus Literary in 2007 and moved the agency to San Francisco in 2013. Andy Ross opened his literary agency in 2008. He was the owner of the legendary Cody’s Books in Berkeley for 30 years before switching careers. His agency represents books in a wide range of nonfiction genres. He looks for writing with a strong voice, robust story arc, and books that tell a big story about culture and society by authors with the authority to write about their subject. In fiction, he likes character and voice-driven stories about real people in the real world.…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Author Matthew Pallamary's 7th appearance on Coast to Coast on President's Day, Monday February 17, 2025 - Shamanic Experiences 1:01:06

19 weeks тому1:01:06

1:01:06

Shamanic Experiences on Coast to Coast AM February 17, 2025 Shamanic explorer Matthew J. Pallamary discussed the universal appeal and foundational significance of shamanism across cultures, including the use of ayahuasca. He pointed out similarities between South American indigenous beliefs and those found in various global religions, including the legend of the Great Flood. Calling shamanism "the world's oldest spiritual belief system," he said its roots are deeply embedded in prehistoric spirituality. Shamanism, he continued, encompasses the roles of healers, teachers, and therapists. They serve as guides, "going to the other worlds or the other realms... to find the knowledge," with the pursuit sometimes involving working with psychoactive plants like ayahuasca, which help shamans explore consciousness through visionary experiences, and spiritual animal totems. Drawing from his extensive experiences with ayahuasca ceremonies over the past 25 years in Central and South America, Pallamary offered personal insights into the plant medicine and related rituals. He explained how these practices are steeped in centuries of trial and error, and that knowledge has been passed down through generations. "In the jungle, there are no medical facilities close by. And these cures and these plants go back literally to prehistoric times." Pallamary emphasized that ayahuasca is not for everyone and requires careful screening and respect, especially considering its potential interactions with medications like SSRIs.…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

1
Chapter One of THE HUMMINGBIRD WHISPERER - Mystic Ink Publishing 10:43

21 weeks тому10:43

10:43

ONE Jeanette Driscoll opened her sparkling blue eyes, stretched out on the bed, and brushed back her long blonde hair before resting her head on her husband Ted’s chest. Tall, sandy-haired, and blue-eyed like his wife, Ted’s muscular frame complemented her model’s figure. Their friends and Ted’s colleagues where he worked as head of research and development at Bliss Pharmaceuticals often referred to them as the perfect couple. “If we’re going to bring a kid into the world,” she said, “let’s create the most perfect one we can.” Ted leaned in to her. “Like Hitler’s blond-haired, blue-eyed Aryan boys?” Jeanette hit him on the shoulder. “Stop it! I was thinking more along the lines of a Jesus, then again, maybe we want a little girl.” Ted chuckled and kissed her. “I’m okay with a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jesus, especially if he or she looks like their mother!” “So many choices.” Jeanette groaned. “Part of me wishes we could go back to natural selection like our parents did.” “It’s a crap shoot with too many unknowns,” Ted said with an air of finality. “Aside from that we’re both worried about birth defects, delivery complications, or other possibilities for trouble, not to mention the threat and the impact to your health.” “I admit to being a little worried, but part of me craves the idea of nurturing a new life inside of me with all the warmth, connection, and intimacy that comes with it.” Ted caressed the side of her face eliciting a dreamy smile. “I understand that as best as I can from a man’s perspective and I know that pregnancy can be exhausting, painful, nauseating, and sometimes flat-out dangerous. If you're pregnant and you stress too much, get sick, or catch some kind of flu or something, you might not be giving our child the best start we can.” He ran his hand down over her breasts and followed her sculpted curves down to the softness of her inner thigh. “Not to mention what it could do to your beautiful body.” She giggled when he stroked her thigh and put her hand on his. “Stop it!” He slid his hand out from under hers and continued his caresses. “Think about the benefits. We can continue having all the sex we want with no interruptions. You might not have the same birthing experience your mother had, but we'll both arrive at our first day of parenthood feeling physically fresh and well-rested, instead of you having been weighed down for months by a parasitic organism that could leave a path of destruction when you birth it. Even in the best case scenario there are possibilities of post-partum depression, hormone imbalances, and other post birth dangers.” “Parasitic organism? That’s our child you’re talking about. You make it sound so horrible!” “I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I only want what is best for you and baby. You have to admit, the whole pregnancy thing takes a toll on you. If you take that into consideration and look at the positives, taking advantage of the technological benefits we are blessed with is the best way to go. Everything can be precisely controlled and monitored which eliminates any stress on beautiful you , and it ensures the safest, healthiest, most stable environment for our love child to grow in.” They stayed quiet for awhile, then Jeanette sat up and grabbed her iPad from the bed stand. “Let’s take another look.” She propped herself up against the headboard, pulled her knees up and put the tablet in her lap, tapping the screen. Ted propped himself up beside her and put his arm around her. A moment later the Fetal Fantasies web site popped up. Angelic looking baby faces floated up, filling the screen, each framed in baby blue or pink. In the middle of the screen effervescent pulsing pink words dimmed and brightened from a black rectangle along with the gentle throbbing of a tiny heartbeat. Let Fetal Fantasies eliminate the pain, danger, and discomfort of pregnancy and labor while allowing you the unprecedented blessing of creating your dream child with the special qualities and genetics of your choosing. Jeanette tapped the pulsing text opening up a new screen. Fetal Fantasies is San Diego’s premier artificial womb facility that brings a novel approach to pregnancy that allows your baby to grow in an optimally balanced germ free environment inside a transparent growth pod. Our proprietary technology creates ideal gestation conditions in a temperature-controlled, infection-free womb with a view. A hybrid bioengineered umbilical cord provides oxygen and nutrition as your little bundle of love floats in pharmaceutically pure amniotic fluid that is continually refreshed with precisely tailored hormones, antibodies, and growth factors. Baby waste products are efficiently removed and run through a microfiltered bioreactor that enzymatically converts it back into a steady and sustainable supply of fresh nutrients. Built in stereophonic speakers ensure that your loved one gets the best possible brain stimulation delivered with binaural beats and direct cranial stimulation, including an ongoing transmission of your heartbeat that your little one can bond to. As baby grows and develops there are options for our recommended classical, or any other music of your choice, as well as your own soothing voice piped in to build and enhance that precious bond. A video filled the bottom part of the screen. Jeanette tapped the start arrow opening it up into full screen mode. Brahm's Lullaby played in the background. Technicians dressed in baby blue and pink clean room coveralls, masks, and gloves moved along rows of transparent pods sitting atop active graphical displays, stopping to examine each one. Healthy babies floated inside each pod with electrodes attached to different parts of their bodies. Transparent umbilical cords and other tubes coupled with monitoring devices hung suspended in clear amniotic fluid. An attractive young couple on a smaller screen in the foreground studied a cell phone screen that matched the graphics on the pod displays while a soothing feminine voice narrated the images and video segments playing out onscreen. “You can monitor your baby's vitals through the Fetal Fantasy app or tune directly in to sensors in the pod where vital signs are precisely managed allowing strict vigilance over any possible physical defects or genetic abnormalities. Synchronized data on your little bundle of love is only a few taps away on our phone app along with a live HD fetus cam that gives you the ability to scroll through time-lapse video recordings of your child's development from embryo to full gestation. “Human babies are the most helpless and underdeveloped in the animal kingdom because our brains are too big for the human female hip gap, so they are born with soft, pliable skulls, several months behind other animals developmentally. In a Fetal Fantasy EZ-Womb, there's no such biological limit, allowing parents to experiment with longer gestational periods and healthier more developed babies. “If this looks and sounds a little impersonal and you think you might miss the feeling of your baby kicking, our haptic suit option can bring that sensation back for any parent that wants it, only when they want it.” An image of the young couple sitting beside each other on a couch wearing VR headsets with wide smiles filled the screen. “Want to see the beginning of life from your child's point of view? You can with a VR headset that allows you to tune in to a three hundred sixty degree camera any time you like.” The image of the young couple panned back showing them in a comfortably furnished room with a large picture window in the background. A baby floated in a single transparent pod above graphical displays next to a window with an expansive view of a twinkling magical night time cityscape. “If you’re uncomfortable with our standard birth package and are unhappy with the thought of your precious bundle of joy being grown in a four hundred pod baby lab, you can have a rechargeable battery-powered pod installed in your own home.” The narration changed to a male announcer’s voice.“ Fetal Fantasies provides the best option for folks who like the idea of a baby but don’t want to go through the ordeals of pregnancy and childbirth to get one. Think about it. You might not even need a day off work! Just hold hands with your significant other after a day at the office, head down to the baby farm and dream about life as a parent, or enjoy your special time in the privacy of your own home.” Alternating pink and blue words dimmed and brightened at the bottom of the screen pulsing in time to the gentle throbbing of a heartbeat. ENROLL HERE FOR OUR FREE NO OBLIGATION BUILD A BABY WORKSHOP Ted pulled Jeanette closer. “What do you think, honey?” “So many choices and options. To be honest, I feel overwhelmed by all of it.” Ted kissed her on the cheek. “We don’t have to make any decisions now and we have nothing to lose if we try the workshop.” “I still have lots of questions.” “I’m sure they can be answered at the workshop.” Jeanette remained quiet. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Ted whispered. Jeanette shrugged and tapped the enroll message.…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 - Mary Otis 40:48

21 weeks тому40:48

40:48

Mary Otis is the author of Burst, longlisted for the 2024 Joyce Carol Oates Prize and winner of the 2023 Silver Medal in Literary Fiction from the Independent Book Publisher Awards. The moving debut novel explores the relationship complexities between mothers and daughters. She’s also the author of Yes, Yes Cherries, a collection of short stories author Lorrie Moore called “funny, brave and amazing.” A founding fiction professor in the UC Riverside…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 - Poetry Reading - David Starkey & Emma Trelles 40:38

26 weeks тому40:38

40:38

David Starkey, Santa Barbara’s 2009-2011 Poet Laureate, Founding Director of the Creative Writing Program at SBCC, and the Publisher/Co-editor of Gunpowder Press, published 11 full length collections of poetry and more than 500 poems in literary journals. His novel Poor Ghost was released in March 2024. Emma Trelles Santa Barbara Poet Laureate 2021-2023, received an Established Artist Fellowship from the California Arts Council. She was named a Poet Laureate Fellow by the Academy of American Poets. Daughter of Cuban immigrants, she’s author of Tropicalia, winner of the Andrés Montoya Prize.…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 - Short Story Panel Moderated by Karen Ford, including Max Talley, Matthew J. Pallamary, Melodie Johnson… 1:03:13

29 weeks тому1:03:13

1:03:13

Moderator Karen K. Ford, SBWC workshop leader, is an award-winning author of short fiction whose honors include top prizes from Narrative and bosque. Her work has been shortlisted for the Tobias Wolff Fiction Award and the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Prize and anthologized in Ginosko. Karen lives in Southern California, with her rescue mutt, Dude, where she is a freelance editor and writing coach. Max Talley has had 70 stories and essays published since 2015. His writing has appeared in Vol.1 Brooklyn, Atticus Review, Santa Fe Literary Review, Litro, and The Saturday Evening Post. He won the 2021 best fiction contest in Jerry Jazz Musician for “Celestial Vagabonds,” later nominated for a Pushcart. Talley has two published novels and 2 story collections, My Secret Place, and the most recent, When the Night Breathes Electric, which debuted in 2023 from Borda Books. Matthew J. Pallamary is an award-winning writer, musician, and sound healer who’s been studying shamanism all his life. He has books covering several genres. His latest story collection is The Thinning Veil: 13 Twisted Tales. He explores how art imitates life and reflects our human condition. The veil between the worlds is thinning and the boundaries have become blurred, bringing more weight to the question; what or where are the boundaries between what we believe to be real and what we imagine? Melodie Johnson Howe, while acting in movies, went to UCLA Extension to learn writing. Her mystery novel, The Mother Shadow was nominated for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allen Poe Award. Her second, Beauty Dies, soon followed. She created a new character, Diana Poole, an actress verging on middle age, for her short stories. They’re now collected into one book, Shooting Hollywood: The Diana Poole Stories. Howe’s latest novel is City of Mirrors, also featuring Diana Poole. Catherine Ann Jones who is an actor, the playwright of 11 award-winning productions, and an Emmy-nominated Hollywood screenwriter, wrote her latest book, East and West, from a personal place. This collection of stories reveals her lifelong relationship to India, including her marriage to Raja Rao, the renowned Indian novelist. The preface pays tribute to India’s timeless interweaving of the spiritual and the worldly, the light and dark, the personal and the universal. These stories speak to a place within each of our souls. Lisa Cupolo has been a paparazzi photographer in London, an aid worker in Kenya, a script doctor in LA, and a literary publicist at HarperCollins in Toronto. Have Mercy on Us, her debut book, won the W.S. Porter Prize for short story collections. Her work has been published in many prestigious journals. She holds multiple degrees in a range of areas. She’s lived all over the world, but currently resides in Southern California, where she taught fiction writing at Chapman University.…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 -Trey Dowell - The Art of the Query 2:18:10

30 weeks тому2:18:10

2:18:10

The Art of the Query Trey Dowell is a novelist and a short story aficionado. His expertise in writing effective query letters has helped numerous writers get their projects reviewed by agents and publishers. In this presentation Trey focused on sparking curiosity and building anticipation. Proven query strategies and methods were discussed. Attendees brought their in-progress queries which were read and received feedback.…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 - Be Your Own Best Publicist - Melinda Palacio & Lida Sideris 2:09:04

32 weeks тому2:09:04

2:09:04

Be Your Own Best Publicist Melinda Palacio & Lida Sideris This session offers wisdom from the trenches from award-winning authors on promoting your project. You’ll get practical marketing advice on aspects of building an author platform and putting yourself and your book out there. Melinda Palacio is an award-winning poet, author, and speaker. She’s the current Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara. Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, she holds 2 degrees in Comparative Literature, a BA from the UC Berkeley and an MA from UC Santa Cruz. She’s a 2007 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow and a 2009 poetry alum of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. Her latest poetry collection is Bird Forgiveness, 2018. She is a master of author self-promotion. Lida Sideris writes soft-boiled mysteries and was a winner of the Helen McCloy Mystery Writers of America scholarship award. The third installment in her Southern California Mystery series, Murder: Double or Nothing will be released in June by Level Best Books. She’s also wrote The Cookie Eating Fire Dog, a picture book for ages 4-8. She lives in the northern tip of SoCal with her family, rescue dogs and a flock of uppity chickens. She teaches “Be Your Own Best Publicist” at SBWC with Melinda Palacio.…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 - Antoine Wilson 48:15

33 weeks тому48:15

48:15

Antoine Wilson’s most recent novel Mouth to Mouth was featured on Barack Obama’s Summer Reading List and was a finalist for The Scotiabank Giller Prize, the CALIBA Golden Poppy Award, and the Prix Fitzgerald. Antoine is also the author of the novels Panorama City and The Interloper, and he is a contributing editor of the literary magazine A Public Space. He’s a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and recipient of a Carol Houck Smith Fiction Fellowship from the University of Wisconsin.…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 - Zohreh Ghahremani 16:34

34 weeks тому16:34

16:34

Zohreh Ghahremani writes for both adults and children. Her debut picture book, Memory Garden, illustrated by her daughter, Susie, was published by Godwin Books/Macmillan in 2024, with another picture book about Norooz/Persian New Year to follow in 2026. She published her first novel, Sky of Red Poppies, in 2010. Her sophomore novel, The Moon Daughter, won Writer’s Digest Book Awards for Best Literary Fiction. She’s also the author of The Commiserator (in Persian) and has contributed to numerous other literary volumes.…

Mystic Ink, Publisher of Spiritual, Shamanic, Transcendent Works, and Phantastic Fiction

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Mystic Ink Publishing Voices of the Masters Series - Santa Barbara Writers Conference 2024 - Poetry Panel 1:00:33

37 weeks тому1:00:33